Mistletoe
by AgentOfAngst
Summary: Percy and Annabeth aren't really doing Christmas this year, but they can't help dream about their daughter's first Christmas next year. 11th day of Christmas!


**I have been trying to write this story for at least two years. No kidding, I started this in 2017 or 2016 or maybe even earlier. I kept telling myself I would post it and then I started feeling obligated to write Octachel Christmas fanfics, so I put it off. This year, however, you get both! If you head over to Silverhuntresses' page you'll find our Christmas collab (which we did in lieu of presents) which takes care of another Christmas story that I started years ago and never published and it will be up sometime today (Christmas Eve). We have different time zones and I'm posting literally at midnight, so who knows?**

**Enjoy this bit of Percabeth!**

* * *

It was perhaps the lack of a Christmas tree, the lack of a wreath, the lack of presents, it was perhaps that lacking that was depressing. It was not the lack of mistletoe. Percy and Annabeth Jackson did not need mistletoe. They were perfectly happy making out on the couch.

There was maybe one thing that the couple had scrounged from off the curb for their apartment, and that was their bed. Soon they'd need to be looking for a crib. Right now, however, they were happy on the love seat, mistletoe or no.

"Next year there will be three of us," Percy said giddily, before returning to her lips for a kiss.

"Next year we'll be millionaires," Annabeth replied, sending a glance around the undecorated room before landing on the far prettier sights of her husband's eyes.

"Next year..." He sang cheerily. The baby was due in April. _April 1st_, he'd been joking, hoping, praying against all odds that their child would be an April Fools baby. She was supposed to be born later than that though. It was a girl! She was a girl, that is. Percy couldn't be happier. Not that a son wouldn't be nice too, but they'd have plenty of time for more when they, as Annabeth said, were millionaires.

That was the part of the dream that they didn't quite believe. Their baby girl was sure and real as the lips on her parents that met now, soft and slow. But their financial growth dragged on much slower than the sweet kiss they shared on a Christmas without anything remotely Christmas-y.

Sure, Annabeth was going to make it as a brilliant architect and Percy was going to have a... Career. But they needed a little more than their dreams of one day to start a family and thrive. And that's all they really wanted. To thrive together. To be happy and safe and chill.

"What's her name," Percy mumbled into Annabeth's neck.

"Zoe," she told him, though he had memorized, though he knew it better than his own.

"Say it again."

"Zoe." She always indulged. It felt secure, the little kicking feet, the name, the promise. An April Fools baby, maybe. If Percy got his wish. But that was forever and a day off, and right now it was Christmas, and all they had was the name. Zoe.

"Zoe," Percy repeated, his smile brighter than any Christmas lights could be.

"It's a nice name," Annabeth agreed.

"We're the luckiest pair in the world," He sang cheerfully, putting his hand on her stomach and feeling Zoe move around.

"The luckiest three," Annabeth corrected.

"The luckiest three!" Percy squealed.

"Next year will be her first Christmas," Annabeth commented, looking around the room.

"Yeah..." Percy glanced around the barren room as well, a sense of solemnity falling on him. He knew that this giddy excitement would come with great responsibility. He and Annabeth would have to be able to provide for their little bundle of joy. As much as they wanted it to, love couldn't put food on the table. They were skipping Christmas this year so that they could furnish the nursery. But they wouldn't want to skip Zoe's first official Christmas, would they?

"Imagine," Annabeth started with a smile, and he was immediately brought into her fantasy, "Over there we'll put the Christmas tree, tall enough to reach the ceiling with just barely enough room to put the star on top. We'll fill it with tinsel and lights and red and gold ornaments, and, carefully hung center stage, our baby's first Christmas ornament. Zoe won't understand what's going on but we'll have presents under the tree for her. Little toys, clothes, precious memories in the making."

"What about matching pajamas? Maybe red and green flannel?" Percy asked, excitedly getting lost in the "when we're millionaires" delusion.

"Of course we'll have matching pajamas! I love that idea." Annabeth kissed him on the cheek.

"And, for us," Percy added with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, pointing to the corner opposite of their imaginary tree, "mistletoe."

"Perfect," Annabeth agreed, kissing him on the lips.

"And we'll hang up custom stockings, with our names. Percy, Annabeth, Zoe. Full of little trinkets and presents and candy canes. We'll have a rocking chair in the nursery, which will also be decorated of course, and we'll sit in it, rocking Zoe, reading Twas the Night Before Christmas and singing Silent night until she drifts off to sleep."

"Percy," Annabeth laughed happily, "slow down! Next year isn't here yet."

"Unfortunately," he moped.

"She'll be here before you know it," Annabeth promised.

"Next Christmas will be here before you know it," she added.

"Yeah, and it will be perfect..." Percy smiled thoughtfully, still daydreaming.

"And even if we don't have all that stuff, even if we don't have a towering Christmas tree with presents stacked high underneath, even if we're not millionaires in a year's time, it'll still be perfect, right? Because we'll have each other," Annabeth reminded.

"Yeah. Even if we're not millionaires, it'll still be perfect," Percy agreed.

* * *

**I've been doing a 12 days of Christmas challenge where I release a new Christmas story every day leading up to Christmas! It's finally Christmas Eve and I've had a great year so far, but there's one more story! Tomorrow, the last story will be Teen Titans themed. Enjoy!**


End file.
